MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
"
I HAVE A DREAM!"
Martin Luther King, Jr. Baptist
pastor, patriot, statesman, and leader of the Civil Rights Movement! The
man who refused to sit in "the back of the bus", who said that
all God's Children had a right to a good life and opportunity, to realize
the "American Dream". The man who led non-violent protests and
marches against the racial hatred and segregation of his day.
Many people see him today as one who led an uprising or championed the cause
of the social and economic liberation of Afro-Americans. he was that too,
but in a larger sense he had a vision for America which went back to the
roots of the foundation on which our republic was founded---The basic premise
that every man, woman, and child born in or immigrating to America would
have the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
He expoused the idea that America was weakened by the social sickness of
segregation, racial distrust, and hatred. He saw a country in which many
people could not make the contributions to society which they potentially
could make due to lack of opportunity, and artifical barriers to access
to adequate education, employment, housing, and opportunities.
